Indian Council for Cultural Relations

Programmes Newsletter

April 1998

The Council extended its good wishes to the readers of this Newsletter on the auspicious occasions of : Ram Navmi (5th), Id-ul-Zuha (8th), Mahavir Jayanti (9th), Good Friday (10th), Vaisakhi (13th), Vishu (14th), Bohaag Bihu (14th) and Mesadi (14th) ** A special colourful cultural programme was arranged (15th) by the Council at the residence of the Vice-President of India/ President of the ICCR to mark the New Year's Day being celebrated in several States in the country

Travelling exhibitions sponsored by the Council opened in New York (USA), Vienna (Austria) and Durban (South Africa)

Artistes from Mauritius, Oman, Syria, Egypt, Hungary, and Spain visited India for performances in the Capital and other cities

The ICCR had the honour to host distinguished visitors from several countries including Bhutan, Bangladesh and Kenya. The Council also facilitated the travel of Indian scholars to Uzbekistan, South Africa, France, Sweden and the U.S.A. for lecture tours and interaction with their counterparts during exhibitions and international conferences

In its Retrospectives series, the Council presented an evening of classical and devotional songs by Sumitra Guha on 7th April at Tagore Hall

The Horizon series continued to provide a platform, on Fridays at Tagore Hall, to young artistes empanelled with the Council. Presentations in April comprised gazals (17th) and an Odissi dance recital (3rd)

Distinguished Visitors

*The Council's guests this month included a 17-member delegation from the School of Arts and Crafts, Thimphu (Bhutan), Godfrey Okoth : Professor of History from Kenya and Justice Mohd Habibur Rehman, Fellow of the B'Desh Academy and Asiatic Society from Dhaka.

*Distinguished scholars assisted by the Council to travel abroad during the month included Dr RC Agrawal & RK Verma from the Archaelogical Survey of India (to Uzbekistan), artist Prof Mrugank Joshi from Mumbai (to France), artist Mrinalini Mukherjee Singh to Sweden to participate in an exhibition of contemporary Indian art, Dr Maneesha Tikekar from the University of Bombay to the USA for a lecture tour, carnatic music exponents Dr Salem Jayalakshmi and Prof S Shanmuga Sundaram from Chennai to South Africa to attend an international music conference.